33 New Year’s Resolutions from Real-Life Travel Ball Parents

DISCLAIMER: The following resolutions were shared by real travel ball parents across the U.S. They’re a mixture of serious, funny, sarcastic, sincere and motivational. But mainly they’re lighthearted thoughts we can all relate to. If you read one that you don’t agree with or, Heaven forbid, find offensive, please don’t comment on how offended you are and expect us to grovel and apologize for not being sensitive enough. We already know that many people don’t make resolutions. Please don’t lecture us on why resolutions don’t work and you don’t waste your time with them.

Happy 2016 to all you travel ball families out there. Whether you’re counting down the days until baseball/softball season starts back up or you haven’t had a break from tournaments, no doubt your kids’ practices and games are on your mind to some extent. As parents, there are always things we want to improve on; and the start of a new year, with its opportunity for resolutions, is the perfect time to tackle those changes.

Here are a few 2016 sports parent resolutions. Let’s see how many you can relate to.

“I will not forget to get the cleats out of the car in July when it’s 100 outside. I will not shake the fence and yell coaching helpful hints.”- Joy B.

“To communicate and coordinate game attendance better with my ex husband (so that the police don’t get called as much.) jk” – Sandy R.

“To hire a team nanny so we can actually watch the games instead of chasing younger siblings.” – Angie W. (Editor’s Note:Now that’s a great idea! Why haven’t we thought of this before?)

“To not act so crazy at games.” – Dawn F.

“I resolve to take more pictures and “advise” less.”-Sabrina S.

“To try and ignore all the drama-filled parents.” – Kim S.

“Just have fun and find new ways to stay dry.” – Lisa B.

“I am going to be Mother Theresa of the baseball mom world! I will respect the umpires’ lack of judgement and whole heartily support my child’s coaches!” – Jenny A. (Amen!)

“To try not to lose any friends over baseball drama.” – Ashley H.

“I resolve to be nicer to the umpires this year. NOT! I will resolve to try to do better with the idiots that we have around here. And we pay them to do it. I will say that they have a hard job and can’t see everything. I will try real hard not to make comments like ‘Here is a 100.00 buy your self a new pair of glasses.’ See, I keep that hundred dollar bill on me every game because I believe in my son. He WILL hit one over this year and when he does, I will present that to him when he crosses home plate!”-Debbie C.

“To not yell ‘CALL IT!’ every time a fly ball is hit.” – Donna J.

“Just relax and enjoy the games-not get so worked up.” – Tina L.

“Try hard not to judge other moms on the team, even though I want to smack them.” – Laura D.

“Always look for a positive when my son asks me how he did that day.” – Jennifer B.

“For every player to play safe.” – Bonnie K.

“Make my son regularly clean out Water, Gatorade and Powerade bottles out of his bat bag.”- Chanda P.